Rattata. Surprisingly solid Pokemon for me in Crystal, even in spite of low Attack IVs. Normal types are really good in this game in general, but Rattata having natural Hyper Fang and a good movepool definitely make them that much better.
HGSS Rattata is also really good. It evolves quite early at level 20, and it has strong moves like STAB headbutt and hyper fang even in the early game. It has nearly perfect coverage with dig and crunch. Normal is a great typing in gen 2 as it is nearly unresisted, which means that Raticate can contribute to every gym fight, especially if you go out of your way to abuse guts. The best thing about it though, is that it gets swords dance. With some berry strats, Raticate can rather consistently sweep Will and Bruno, as well as Clair. It's your classic strong early game rodent, but it never falls off despite its mediocre stats. It's honestly among the best Pokemon available in HGSS.
This guy in Pearl. I knew what I was in for when I got that Fossil restored: a slow, weak mon with 0 recovery outside Rest. And for quite some time, it was exactly that. But anyone who's been through Sinnoh will tell you the horrors that await after the 6th badge:
Maybe it was just Byron's ace giving him the inspiration he needed, but throughout these horrors, Bastiodon was an utter UNIT. Chewed up Golbat by the billion and spat them back out. Tanked suicide moves all day every day. Took attacks on behalf of teammates I was training up. Cheesed Jump Kickers with Protect. Continued to eat Golbat for breakfast, lunch and dinner (and loads more for dessert). Tanked Brick Break from Cyrus's Weavile and sent it packing.
- More Golbat than any sustainable ecosystem could ever support. And that's just Team Galactic.
- Suicide-bombing Geodude and Graveler determined to blow your precious mons to bits with double-strength Self-Destruct and Explosion.
- Often more HM slaves required than actual team members.
- Everything about Candice, Snowpoint and the Medi-line infestation they've got going on.
- More Team Galactic Golbats.
- Some wild Golbat too, just to mix it up.
- Cyrus.
Then, when Palkia was in danger of blasting apart my entire half-team(plus HM slaves) with its insane power level, guess who stepped up to the plate? This UNIT PP stalled Spacial Rend and shut down the legendary.
He might have been expensive in terms of Potions required between battles, but DANG, he be carrying you up those mountain slopes and down again.
Per Bulbapedia, Raticate has Swords Dance as a level 1 move in gen 4, so you can get it from the Move Reminder. It's also a TM at the Goldenrod Game Corner for 4000 coins.Interesting. Where do you get Swords Dance?
Rattata. Surprisingly solid Pokemon for me in Crystal, even in spite of low Attack IVs. Normal types are really good in this game in general, but Rattata having natural Hyper Fang and a good movepool definitely make them that much better.
HGSS Rattata is also really good. It evolves quite early at level 20, and it has strong moves like STAB headbutt and hyper fang even in the early game. It has nearly perfect coverage with dig and crunch. Normal is a great typing in gen 2 as it is nearly unresisted, which means that Raticate can contribute to every gym fight, especially if you go out of your way to abuse guts. The best thing about it though, is that it gets swords dance. With some berry strats, Raticate can rather consistently sweep Will and Bruno, as well as Clair. It's your classic strong early game rodent, but it never falls off despite its mediocre stats. It's honestly among the best Pokemon available in HGSS.
Per Bulbapedia, Raticate has Swords Dance as a level 1 move in gen 4, so you can get it from the Move Reminder. It's also a TM at the Goldenrod Game Corner for 4000 coins.
I had literally never known that Raticate got swords dance as a level 1 move, fascinatingPer Bulbapedia, Raticate has Swords Dance as a level 1 move in gen 4, so you can get it from the Move Reminder. It's also a TM at the Goldenrod Game Corner for 4000 coins.
So I am going to talk a bit about Nuzlocking GSC and HG/SS because despite the atrocious EXP curve in the games, they have the most ridiculous in-game power spikes outside of Gen VI's Mega Evolutions in any Pokemon game. When trying to play with as few deaths possible with limited items, going first and OHKOing as much as you can without needing to set-up is the most optimal strat, and both these games have tools that support this strategy while letting you use weird ass mons.
In Gen II, since the Zephyr badge grants 10% bonus Attack and the Plain Badge grants you a 12.5% boost to Normal-type moves, pretty much anything with a reasonable Attack stat is fantastic. The way Johto is designed is outside of Morty's Gym, Jasmine's Gym, and a few errant hikers and late-game Rocks (lmao Bruno's Onix), Ghosts, and Steel, you are pretty much free to spam Return. Nothing resists Return + Surf in Gen II, which is why Feraligatr is so obviously good. But there is also Furret, who is reasonably fast, has STAB Return, enough Attack to work with, Shadow Ball, and learns Surf for all those Geodude/Onix that get in your way. And Furret is the low end of the spectrum. You get a Tauros or a Miltank and OH MAN the game because so much easier, especially Miltank since it also gets Shadow Ball and recovery. Seriously the cow is amazing.
I'm currently trying this out, and it does work pretty well. I have yet to reach the point where the level curve really starts to spike, but I have yet to feel underprepared for something. I think it's kinda lame to play like this, but it's something.In these games, I feel the standard team size should really be a 4 rather than a 6. 4 mons are generally perfectly enough to cover you for matchups and you can assign HM moves to the remaining mons - I consistently stayed on par with or even above the level curve in Crystal employing this strat. This is especially true in a Nuzlocke run, where trying to add new teammates can be...incredibly costly. IMHO.
I'm currently trying this out, and it does work pretty well. I have yet to reach the point where the level curve really starts to spike, but I have yet to feel underprepared for something. I think it's kinda lame to play like this, but it's something.
I like using every slot available to me for something interesting, and I like having a lot of options in that regard. I consider it bad design when a Pokémon game doesn't do these things, because it makes playthroughs less unique and interesting. Johto is definitely best experienced without a full team, partially because you don't have many good options, but I think that is itself a big problem with how the game is designed.I honestly don't know about the ''lame'' part lol. While I like having a 6-mon team ideally speaking, it feels like 6 is a bit too big for me sometimes haha. Some regions can be difficult to build up a good 6-mon team in due to lack of choice - Johto in the older games is perhaps the best example as outside of cheating or trading, you're not gonna be able to get a lot of good Pokemon.
I like using every slot available to me for something interesting, and I like having a lot of options in that regard. I consider it bad design when a Pokémon game doesn't do these things, because it makes playthroughs less unique and interesting. Johto is definitely best experienced without a full team, partially because you don't have many good options, but I think that is itself a big problem with how the game is designed.
Nah, I agree completely, m8. Johto - and Kanto - are not very friendly when it comes to building new teams.